First of: I don't use any Microsoft Account based services on my Lumia 730 other than the Windows Store. I'm also very open-minded and I would switch to another platform in a heartbeat if I'd find something better-suited for my needs. [I've been a Linux user from 2010 to 2015 and used several different Linux distros and even tried making a hackintosh out of a Lenovo ThinkPad X230 (non tablet)]
Some examples how I try to avoid vendor lock-in:
- Contact/Calendar syncing: ownDrive as the backend
- Bookmarks: Xmarks is my friend (I use Edge on all Windows devices, but don't want to get locked into the MS ecosystem)
- Mail: Zoho Mail and PGP is my backend of choice (frontend: preinstalled Email application + OpenPGP for Windows Phone)
- Passwords: KeePass as my backend (frontend: WinPass on my Lumia 730 and KeePass 2 on my laptop)
- News: feedly as the backend (NextGen Reader as the frontend)
- File syncing: BitTorrent Sync (sadly I have to manually sync my Windows Phone files because BitTorrent Sync is not allowed to access my phone's storage and to run in the background)
- Notes: Wunderlist, OneNote
- Messaging: Telegram, Skype (sometimes Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp)
I own three phones at the moment: Nokia Lumia 730, bq Aquaris X5, Samsung Galaxy S3 and I prefer my Windows 10 Mobile device over both Android devices (the bq is running nearly vanilla Android 5.1.1 and should be running 6.0 within the next months; Galaxy S3 is running stock Android 4.3).
I don't exactly know why this is that I like Windows Mobile ...
My main factor are the Live Tiles. They are amazing!
Android's static icons are really boring and my home screens always have a lot of unused blank space or look cobbled together.
On Windows 10 Mobile every millimeter is used space and gives me animated information generated by the installed applications. Haven't seen such a great concept on any other (mobile) platform (be it Ubuntu, Android, iOS, Sailfish OS, whatever you call it ...)!
Live Tiles work great on convertible laptops, too. They fit perfectly with my ThinkPad X230t.
Somehow when I use an Android device I feel like I'm using an OS that does not really fit onto a mobile device. When I use a Windows Mobile device it feels like the OS that's better suited for phones.
The second thing I miss with Android are the poorly programmed applications
Tapatalk as an example (to be honest, I don't like the Android version either ...)